Odysseus Talks with Ghosts
December 15, 2014Homer |
Homer (fl. 850 B.C.).
The Odyssey.
Vol. 22, pp. 145-153 of
The Harvard Classics
This is another of
those marvelous and unforgetable tales of the wandering Odysseus. The
fantasy takes him into regions where he discourses with deceased
heroes.
Book XI
Odysseus, his descent
into hell, and discourses with the ghosts of the deceased heroes.
‘NOW when we had gone
down to the ship and to the sea, first of all we drew the ship unto
the fair salt water and placed the mast and sails in the black ship,
and took those sheep and put them therein, and ourselves too climbed
on board, sorrowing, and shedding big tears. And in the wake of our
dark-prowed ship she sent a favouring wind that filled the sails, a
kindly escort,—even Circe of the braided tresses, a dread goddess
of human speech. And we set in order all the gear throughout the ship
and sat us down; and the wind and the helmsman guided our barque. And
all day long her sails were stretched in her seafaring; and the sun
sank and all the ways were darkened.
‘She came to the limits of the
world, to the deep-flowing Oceanus. There is the land and the city of
the Cimmerians, shrouded in mist and cloud, and never does the
shining sun look down on them with his rays, neither when he climbs
up the starry heavens, nor when again he turns earthward from the
firmament, but deadly night is outspread over miserable mortals.
Thither we came and ran the ship ashore and took out the sheep; but
for our part we held on our way along the stream of Oceanus, till we
came to the place which Circe had declared to us.
‘There Perimedes and Eurylochus held
the victims, but I drew my sharp sword from my thigh, and dug a pit,
as it were a cubit in length and breadth, and about it poured a
drink-offering to all the dead, first with mead and thereafter with
sweet wine, and for the third time with water. And I sprinkled white
meal thereon, and entreated with many prayers the strengthless heads
of the dead, and promised that on my return to Ithaca I would offer
in my halls a barren heifer, the best I had, and fill the pyre with
treasure, and apart unto Teiresias alone sacrifice a black ram
without spot, the fairest of my flock. But when I had besought the
tribes of the dead with vows and prayers, I took the sheep and cut
their throats over the trench, and the dark blood flowed forth, and
lo, the spirits of the dead that be departed gathered them from out
of Erebus. Brides and youths unwed, and old men of many and evil
days, and tender maidens with grief yet fresh at heart; and many
there were, wounded with bronze-shod spears, men slain in fight with
their bloody mail about them. And these many ghosts flocked together
from every side about the trench with a wondrous cry, and pale fear
gat hold of me. Then did I speak to my company and command them to
flay the sheep that lay slain by the pitiless sword, and to consume
them with fire, and to make prayer to the gods, to mighty Hades and
to dread Persephone, and myself I drew the sharp sword from my thigh
and sat there, suffering not the strengthless heads of the dead to
draw nigh to the blood, ere I had word of Teiresias.
‘And first came the soul of Elpenor,
my companion, that had not yet been buried beneath the wide-wayed
earth; for we left the corpse behind us in the hall of Circe, unwept
and unburied, seeing that another task was instant on us. At the
sight of him I wept and had compassion on him, and uttering my voice
spake to him winged words: “Elpenor, how hast thou come beneath the
darkness and the shadow? Thou hast come fleeter on foot than I in my
black ship.”
‘So spake I, and with a moan he
answered me, saying: “Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus
of many devices, an evil doom of some god was my bane and wine out of
measure. When I laid me down on the house-top of Circe I minded me
not to descend again by the way of the tall ladder, but fell right
down from the roof, and my neck was broken off from the bones of the
spine, and my spirit went down to the house of Hades. And now I pray
thee in the name of those whom we left, who are no more with us, thy
wife, and thy sire who cherished thee when as yet thou wert a little
one, and Telemachus, whom thou didst leave in thy halls alone;
forasmuch as I know that on thy way hence from out the dwelling of
Hades, thou wilt stay thy well-wrought ship at the isle Aeaean, even
then, my lord, I charge thee to think on me. Leave me not unwept and
unburied as thou goest hence, nor turn thy back upon me, lest haply I
bring on thee the anger of the gods. Nay, burn me there with mine
armour, all that is mine, and pile me a barrow on the shore of the
grey sea, the grave of a luckless man, that even men unborn may hear
my story. Fulfil me this and plant upon the barrow mine oar,
wherewith I rowed in the days of my life, while yet I was among my
fellows.”
‘Even so he spake, and I answered
him saying: “All this, luckless man, will I perform for thee and
do.”
‘Even so we twain were sitting
holding sad discourse, I on the one side, stretching forth my sword
over the blood, while on the other side the ghost of my friend told
all his tale.
‘Anon came up the soul of my mother
dead, Anticleia, the daughter of Autolycus the great hearted, whom I
left alive when I departed for sacred Ilios. At the sight of her I
wept, and was moved with compassion, yet even so, for all my sore
grief, I suffered her not to draw nigh to the blood, ere I had word
of Teiresias.
‘Anon came the soul of Theban
Teiresias, with a golden sceptre in his hand, and he knew me and
spake unto me: “Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of
many devices, what seekest thou now, wretched man,
wherefore hast thou left the sunlight and come hither to behold the
dead and a land desolate of joy? Nay, hold off from the ditch and
draw back thy sharp sword, that I may drink of the blood and tell
thee sooth.”
‘So spake and I put up my
silver-studded sword into the sheath, and when he had drunk the dark
blood, even then did the noble seer speak unto me saying: “Thou art
asking of thy sweet returning, great Odysseus, but that will the god
make hard for thee; for methinks thou shalt not pass unheeded by the
Shaker of the Earth, who hath laid up wrath in his heart against
thee, for rage at the blinding of his dear son. Yet even so, through
many troubles, ye may come home, if thou wilt restrain thy spirit and
the spirit of thy men so soon as thou shalt bring thy well-wrought
ship nigh to the isle Thrinacia, fleeing the sea of violet blue, when
ye find the herds of Helios grazing and his brave flocks, of Helios
who overseeth all and overheareth all things. If thou doest these no
hurt, being heedful of thy return, so may ye yet reach Ithaca, albeit
in evil case. But if thou hurtest them, I foreshow ruin for thy ship
and for thy men, and even though thou shalt thyself escape, late
shalt thou return in evil plight, with the loss of all thy company,
on board the ship of strangers, and thou shalt find sorrows in thy
house, even proud men that devour thy living, while they woo thy
godlike wife and offer the gifts of wooing. Yet I tell thee, on thy
coming thou shalt avenge their violence. But when thou hast slain the
wooers in thy halls, whether by guile, or openly with the edge of the
sword, thereafter go thy way, taking with thee a shapen oar, till
thou shalt come to such men as know not the sea, neither eat meat
savoured with salt; yea, nor have they knowledge of ships of purple
cheek, nor shapen oars which serve for wings to ships. And I will
give thee a most manifest token, which cannot escape thee. In the day
when another wayfarer shall meet thee and say that thou hast a
winnowing fan on thy stout shoulder, even then make fast thy shapen
oar in the earth and do goodly sacrifice to the lord Poseidon, even
with a ram and a bull and a boar, the mate of swine, and depart for
home and offer holy hecatombs to the deathless gods that keep the
wide heaven, to each in order due. And from the sea shall thine own
death come, the gentlest death that may be, which shall end thee
foredone with smooth old age, and the folk shall dwell happily around
thee. This that I say is sooth.”
‘So spake he, and I answered him,
saying: “Teiresias, all these threads, methinks, the gods
themselves have spun. But come, declare me this and plainly tell me
all. I see here the spirit of my mother dead; lo, she sits in silence
near the blood, nor deigns to look her son in the face nor speak to
him! Tell me, prince, how may she know me again that I am he?”
‘So spake I, and anon he answered
me, and said: “I will tell thee an easy saying, and will put it in
thy heart. Whomsoever of the dead that be departed thou shalt suffer
to draw nigh to the blood, he shall tell thee sooth; but if thou
shalt grudge any, that one shall go to his own place again.”
Therewith the spirit of the prince Teiresias went back within the
house of Hades, when he had told all his oracles. But I abode there
steadfastly, till my mother drew nigh and drank the dark blood; and
at once she knew me, and bewailing herself spake to me winged words:
‘“Dear child, how didst thou come
beneath the darkness and the shadow, thou that art a living man?
Grievous is the sight of these things to the living, for between us
and you are great rivers and dreadful streams; first, Oceanus, which
can no wise be crossed on foot, but only if one have a well-wrought
ship. Art thou but now come hither with thy ship and thy company in
thy long wanderings from Troy? and hast thou not yet reached Ithaca,
nor seen thy wife in thy halls?”
‘Even so she spake, and I answered
her, and said: “O my mother, necessity was on me to come down to
the house of Hades to seek to the spirit of Theban Teiresias. For not
yet have I drawn near to the Achaean shore, nor yet have I set foot
on mine own country, but have been wandering evermore in affliction,
from the day that first I went with goodly Agamemnon to Ilios of the
fair steeds, to do battle with the Trojans. But come, declare me this
and plainly tell it all. What doom overcame thee of death that lays
men at their length? Was it a slow disease, or did Artemis the archer
slay thee with the visitation of her gentle shafts? And tell me of my
father and my son, that I left behind me; doth my honour yet abide
with them, or hath another already taken it, while they say that I
shall come home no more? And tell me of my wedded wife, of her
counsel and her purpose, doth she abide with her son and keep all
secure, or hath she already wedded the best of the Achaeans?”
‘Even so I spake, and anon my lady
mother answered me: “Yea verily, she abideth with steadfast spirit
in thy halls; and wearily for her the nights wane always and the days
in shedding of tears. But the fair honour that is thine no man hath
yet taken; but Telemachus sits at peace on his demesne, and feasts at
equal banquets whereof it is meet that a judge partake, for all men
bid him to their house. And thy father abides there in the field, and
goes not down to the town, nor lies he on bedding or rugs or shining
blankets, but all the winter he sleeps, where sleep the thralls in
the house, in the ashes by the fire, and is clad in sorry raiment.
But when the summer comes and the rich harvest-tide, his beds of
fallen leaves are strewn lowly all about the knoll of his vineyard
plot. There he lies sorrowing and nurses his mighty grief, for long
desire of thy return, and old age withal comes heavy upon him. Yea
and even so did I too perish and meet my doom. It was not the archer
goddess of the keen sight, who slew me in my halls with the
visitation of her gentle shafts, nor did any sickness come upon me,
such as chiefly with a sad wasting draws the spirit from the limbs;
nay it was my sore longing for thee, and for thy counsels, great
Odysseus, and for thy loving kindness, that reft me of sweet life.”
So spake she, and I mused in my heart
and would fain have embraced the spirit of my mother dead. Thrice I
sprang towards her, and was minded to embrace her; thrice she flitted
from my hands as a shadow or even as a dream, and sharp grief arose
ever in my heart. And uttering my voice I spake to her winged words:
‘“Mother mine, wherefore dost thou
not abide me who am eager to clasp thee, that even in Hades we twain
may cast our arms each about the other, and have our fill of chill
lament? Is this but a phantom that the high goddess Persephone hath
sent me, to the end that I may groan for more exceeding sorrow?”
‘So spake I, and my lady mother
answered me anon: “Ah me, my child, of all men most ill-fated,
Persephone, the daughter of Zeus, doth in no wise deceive thee, but
even on this wise it is with mortals when they die. For the sinews no
more bind together the flesh and the bones, but the great force of
burning fire abolishes these, so soon as the life hath left the white
bones, and the spirit like a dream flies forth and hovers near. But
haste with all thine heart toward the sunlight, and mark all this,
that even hereafter thou mayest tell it to thy wife.”
‘Thus we twain held discourse
together; and lo, the women came up, for the high goddess Persephone
sent them forth, all they that had been the wives and daughters of
mighty men. And they gathered and flocked about the black blood, and
I took counsel how I might question them each one. And this was the
counsel that showed best in my sight. I drew my long hanger from my
stalwart thigh, and suffered them not all at one time to drink of the
dark blood. So they drew nigh one by one, and each declared her
lineage, and I made question of all.
‘Then verily did I first see Tyro,
sprung of a noble sire, who said that she was the child of noble
Salmoneus, and declared herself the wife of Cretheus, son of Aeolus.
She loved a river, the divine Enipeus, far the fairest of the floods
that run upon the earth, and she would resort to the fair streams of
Enipeus. And it came to pass that the girdler of the world, the
Earth-shaker, put on the shape of the god, and lay by the lady at the
mouths of the whirling stream. Then the dark wave stood around them
like a hill-side bowed, and hid the god and the mortal woman. And he
undid her maiden girdle, and shed a slumber over her. Now when the
god had done the work of love, he clasped her hand and spake and
hailed her:
‘“Woman, be glad in our love, and
when the year comes round thou shalt give birth to glorious
children,—for not weak are the embraces of the gods,—and do thou
keep and cherish them. And now go home and hold thy peace, and tell
it not: but behold, I am Poseidon, shaker of the earth.”
‘Therewith he plunged beneath the
heaving deep. And she conceived and bare Pelias and Neleus, who both
grew to be mighty men, servants of Zeus. Pelias dwelt in wide Iolcos,
and was rich in flocks; and that other abode in sandy Pylos. And the
queen of women bare yet other sons to Cretheus, even Aeson and Pheres
and Amythaon, whose joy was in chariots.
‘And after her I saw Antiope,
daughter of Asopus, and her boast was that she had slept even in the
arms of Zeus, and she bare two sons, Amphion and Zethus, who founded
first the place of sevengated Thebes, and they made of it a fenced
city, for they might not dwell in spacious Thebes unfenced, for all
their valiancy.
‘Next to her I saw Alcmene, wife of
Amphitryon, who lay in the arms of mighty Zeus, and bare Heracles of
the lion-heart, steadfast in the fight. And I saw Megara, daughter of
Creon, haughty of heart, whom the strong and tireless son of
Amphitryon had to wife.
‘And I saw the mother of Oedipodes,
fair Epicaste, who wrought a dread deed unwittingly, being wedded to
her own son, and he that had slain his own father wedded her, and
straightway the gods made these things known to men. Yet he abode in
pain in pleasant Thebes, ruling the Cadmaeans, by reason of the
deadly counsels of the gods. But she went down to the house of Hades,
the mighty warder; yea, she tied a noose from the high beam aloft,
being fast holden in sorrow; while for him she left pains behind full
many, even all that the Avengers of a mother bring to pass.
‘And I saw lovely
Chloris, whom Neleus wedded on a time for her beauty, and brought
gifts of wooing past number. She was the youngest daughter of
Amphion, son of Iasus, who once ruled mightily in Minyan Orchomenus.
And she was queen of Pylos, and bare glorious children to her lord,
Nestor and Chromius, and princely Periclymenus, and stately Pero too,
the wonder of all men. All that dwelt around were her wooers; but
Neleus would not give her, save to him who should drive off from
Phylace the kine of mighty Iphicles, with shambling gait and broad of
brow, hard cattle to drive. And none but the noble seer 1took
in hand to drive them; but a grievous fate from the gods fettered
him, even hard bonds and the herdsmen of the wild. But when at length
the months and days were being fulfilled, as the year returned upon
his course, and the seasons came round, then did mighty Iphicles set
him free, when he had spoken out all the oracles; and herein was the
counsel of Zeus being accomplished.
‘And I saw Lede, the famous
bed-fellow of Tyndareus, who bare to Tyndareus two sons, hardy of
heart, Castor tamer of steeds, and Polydeuces the boxer. These twain
yet live, but the quickening earth is over them; and even in the
nether world they have honour at the hand of Zeus. And they possess
their life in turn, living one day and dying the next, and they have
gotten worship even as the gods.
‘And after her I beheld Iphimedeia,
bed-fellow of Aloeus, who said that she had lain with Poseidon, and
she bare children twain, but short of life were they, godlike Otus
and far-famed Ephialtes. Now these were the tallest men that earth,
the graingiver, ever reared, and far the goodliest after the renowned
Orion. At nine seasons old they were of breadth nine cubits, and nine
fathoms in height. They it was who threatened to raise even against
the immortals in Olympus the din of stormy war. They strove to pile
Ossa on Olympus, and on Ossa Pelion with the trembling forest leaves,
that there might be a pathway to the sky. Yea, and they would have
accomplished it, had they reached the full measure of manhood. But
the son of Zeus, whom Leto of the fair locks bare, destroyed the
twain, ere the down had bloomed beneath their temples, and darkened
their chins with the blossom of youth.
‘And Phaedra and Procris I saw, and
fair Ariadne, the daughter of wizard Minos, whom Theseus on a time
was bearing from Crete to the hill of sacred Athens, yet had he no
joy of her; for Artemis slew her ere that in sea-girt Dia, by reason
of the witness of Dionysus.
‘And Maera and Clymene I saw, and
hateful Eriphyle, who took fine gold for the price of her dear lord’s
life. But I cannot tell or name all the wives and daughters of the
heroes that I saw; ere that, the immortal night would wane. Nay, it
is even now time to sleep, whether I go to the swift ship to my
company or abide here: and for my convoy you and the gods will care.’
So spake he, and dead silence fell on
all, and they were spellbound throughout the shadowy halls. Then
Arete of the white arms first spake among them: ‘Phaeacians, what
think you of this man for comeliness and stature, and within for
wisdom of heart? Moreover he is my guest, though every one of you
hath his share in this honour. Wherefore haste not to send him hence,
and stint not these your gifts for one that stands in such sore need
of them; for ye have much treasure stored in your halls by the grace
of the gods.’
Then too spake among them the old man,
lord Echeneus, that was an elder among the Phaeacians: ‘Friends,
behold, the speech of our wise queen is not wide of the mark, nor far
from our deeming, so hearken ye thereto. But on Alcinous here both
word and work depend.’
Then Alcinous made answer, and spake
unto him: ‘Yea, the word that she hath spoken shall hold, if indeed
I am yet to live and bear rule among the Phaeacians, masters of the
oar. Howbeit let the stranger, for all his craving to return,
nevertheless endure to abide until the morrow, till I make up the
full measure of the gift; and men shall care for his convoy, all men,
but I in chief, for mine is the lordship in the land.’
And Odysseus of many counsels answered
him, saying: My lord Alcinous, most notable of all the people, if ye
bade me tarry here even for a year, and would speed my convoy and
give me splendid gifts, even that I would choose; and better would it
be for me to come with a fuller hand to mine own dear country, so
should I get more love and worship in the eyes of all men, whoso
should see me after I was returned to Ithaca.’
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